Price of Life
by Dan Hunter
Summary: Well, this is my first stab at a Mario fic. I think it will be pretty good once I work all the kinks out..heh, who knows? The Hammer Brothers are hired to off Mario once and for all but that is only the beginning, please read and review. Thanks.


Price of Life  
  
It was dark, cold and dank in the castle. Small fires burned in their respective torches, offering only minimal light for the Hammer Brothers to see by as they made their way to see the King himself. They were a bit nervous; a meeting with Bowser was not always a good thing but they had been out of work so long, this could be their last chance.  
  
Finally they reached his throne room and the goombas who led the brothers promptly butted the door open with their heads. The Hammer Brothers were awestruck by what they saw. The throne room was in complete magnificence. Treasure chests, coins, decorative painting, and chairs. Bowser had it all and was not afraid to show it. In the center of the throne room sat the big guy himself. Sitting as comfortably as his spiked shell would allow on his throne.  
  
He saw the brothers' approach and rose to greet them. He was huge, of that there was no doubt. His strength was the stuff of legends and his attitude was what nightmares were made of. A wicked sneer crossed his dragonish face as his subjects neared. Row upon row of pearly white teeth lined his enormous maw. The fiery red mane of his was tied back, and resting neatly between the middle two rows of spikes.  
  
"Welcome welcome." The Koopa King snarled. "Just the two I wanted to see. I have a job offer for you."  
  
The Hammer Brothers let out an audible sigh of relief, at least the boss wasn't angry with them this time.  
  
"All I want is for you two to take out Mario once and for all." Bowser continued, bulky arms crossing over his scaly chest as he smiled once more, awaiting the inevitable reaction.  
  
"Mario? You want us to kill Mario?" Scoffed the more boisterous of the two brothers. "And how much are you willing to pay for this "simple" task?" Death wish was more like it, but he kept silent for now.  
  
"One hundred coins." Bowser answered.  
  
"One hundred coins? Are you insane?! We're the Hammer Brothers for cryin' out loud. The most successful assassins in this whole stinkin' land and all you are willing to pay is one hundred lousy coins for offin' Mario for you." The boisterous brother exclaimed. How could any be expected to work for that little money?  
  
"Successful eh? Then how come my men found you and your brother digging around in the alley garbage for some food?" Bowser asked with a snort, his patience was waning but he did not wish to snap on the foolish brothers.yet.  
  
"We.umm.well, ya see. We just like to keep it real, that's all.get back to our roots, ya know?" The brother tried to stammer out an excuse but his brother placed a hand to his shell to silence him.  
  
"What my brother is trying to say, your highness, is that we would be glad to take the job for you, though the price is a little on the low side." The calm brother interjected, he was most assuredly saving their hides for this. "However, we will show you how successful we are, and after we dispose of Mario once and for all, we hope that you shall seek our expertise in the future." He ended his sentence with a bow towards Bowser, a quick, sharp elbow to the gut of his brother to make him do the same.  
  
"That sounds more like it. So I see we have a deal, good. I'll give you half now and the rest upon completion of the mission. But don't you two dare fail me. You've both messed up far too much in the past, any further failures and I may not be so generous as to support your further well being, got it you two?" Bowser was sure not to raise his voice, but the sharp tone and heaviness of it was more then enough to convey his point. "Now get, and don't ya come back till Mario is finished, got it?" He motioned towards the door with one mighty arm. The bicep beneath the leather, spiked collar bulged, stressing the band to its limits.  
  
"Yes sir." The Hammer Brothers replied in unison and quickly scurried off in search of Mario. They were glad to get out of the throne room alive, even though they knew they would not be much longer. Mario was tough; he had never been beaten before. Bowser, well, he was Bowser.and you did not mess with Bowser. The Hammer Brothers were stuck between the proverbial rock and the hard place. Either way they were pretty much screwed.  
  
  
  
It had been just that typical day in the Mushroom Kingdom. The sun had been shining brightly, people were laughing and having fun, and Mario and the crew were making the best of the peaceful time they had. It had consisted of a picnic with all the regulars. Mario, Luigi, Toad, Yoshi and even Peach had managed to sneak away from the castle and her duties as princess for a while. The perfect day became a perfect evening as the gang made its way back to the city. Each member going his or her way once they got far enough along. Mario was the last to head for home though. He wanted some alone time to think so he decided to stroll through the city a bit.  
  
As he walked a group of the city folk saw their favorite mustachioed hero and ran to great him. Mario stayed and talked with the villagers, showing off a few of his tricks at which they "ooh"ed and "awwww"ed. Life was pretty much normal, or, as normal as things could get in the Mushroom Kingdom. After a good while, Mario realized that it had quickly become night without his knowledge and excused himself from the group so he could get home in time for supper. He did not want Luigi to get worried after all.  
  
So, Mario turned through the darkened streets and headed home. He was near the city limits when a sound caught his attention. A quick turn and Mario saw, to his surprise, that a group of the kids who had watched him earlier had followed him. They squealed at being discovered but did not try to get away. Mario only smiled and headed back to the children.  
  
"You kids do know it is dangerous at night, right? Your parents must be worried sick." Mario softly reprimanded them, but that gentle smile never left his face. "Want me to take you all home?"  
  
The group of kids giggled and jumped up and down. To think, their hero was offering to walk them home. They would be the envy of the block for sure. "Please, Mr. Mario, that would be very nice." One of them spoke, trying to be polite.  
  
"Alright, just show me were you guys live." Mario smiled, placing one of the kids on his shoulders as his hands found the backs of two more.  
  
"It's not that far.just around the corner." One replied as the group began to walk off. As they passed a rather dark alleyway, another noise caught Mario's attention. He turned his head, thinking that it was another child who had decided to follow. His eyes widened in shock, though, as he saw a large mallet flying his way. Mario was barely able to move the kid on his shoulders to safety in time. The mallet struck Mario in the back and he did his best to keep from falling over. The kids all shrieked at the attack and wailed.  
  
"Run home, quickly." Mario instructed the children as he pushed them in the direction they had been traveling. All nodding heads and whimpered, "Yes Mr. Mario" as the children turned and ran towards their houses as fast as they possible could. Once the children were a safe distance away Mario turned to face the darkened alley once more. Another hammer was flung out at him, but he was able to avoid this one since he did not have the children to worry about.  
  
"Lemme guess just who is in there." Mario joked and rushed blindly into the dark alley. The waiting Hammer Brothers had not been expecting such a frontal assault and were taken by surprise.  
  
Mario brought around one white gloved hand and caught one of the brothers square in the beak, knocking him flat to the ground with a thud. The other brother took this chance to jump at Mario, brandishing yet another large wooden hammer. Being the master of jumping, Mario flipped away from the hammer easily. The jawed brother was now up and readying one more of the seeming infinitesimal supply of hammers they kept.  
  
"Remember us, Mario?" The boisterous one was first to speak. "We're back and badder then ever. Get ready man." And with that both brothers let fly a hammer, aimed straight the blue suspender clad one. Mario deftly kicked off a nearby wall, getting up just inches above the flying hammers, as he spun and his feet came to the hard ground he raised up his right hand and positioned it at the brothers. They could feel the heat rising even before the fireballs had been launched at them. Mario let fly three of the fiery projectiles at the blundering brothers before he kicked against the nearby wall once more, using those powerful legs to bounce back and forth across the alley until finally he was on the rough of the one building.  
  
Below, those fireballs had been a pain, but easily dealt with. The Hammer Brothers had smacked away the red hot nuisances with their trademark hammers and quickly began to ascend the conveniently placed ladder to get to the top of the building and after Mario.  
  
It was there that the battle raged on. The Hammer Brothers struggled desperately to get the upper hand against the famous plumber. Mario was just too good for them that was for sure. Fatigue began to set in, though, as it always does as the most inopportune times. Mario was tiring from all this action, the lull of peace had lasted longer then normal this time, and Mario hadn't the need for constant training so he was not quite up to par. The Hammer Brothers, too, were tiring. They had been beaten so many times that they figured all the practice in the world wouldn't make them any better. One thing was certain, they were all running on borrowed time, but who would bear the brunt of the exchange?  
  
Deciding it was time to finish the battle before it caused any serious damage to the building they were on, Mario readied himself for the coup de grace. Hands poised at his sides as those powerful legs pumped him into the air, however, this time, luck was not on the mustachioed one's side. He was a bit too close to the edge and the strength behind his push off loosened the old building's bricks. Mario lost his balance and wobbled precariously over the edge of the building. Taking this supreme opportunity, the Hammer Brothers both let fly a steady barrage of hammers. The blunt objects pounded into the defenseless Mario and before any one of the three knew what was going on, Mario tumbled from the rooftop.  
  
The Hammer Brothers awaited the inevitable leap that would carry Mario back up to the roof so that he could continue the battle. They were tired and just contemplating letting Mario finish it anyway. But, this time, there was no leap. Cautiously, the brothers approached the side of the building, thinking it must be some trick. A tentative peek over the side of the building brought about the weirdest emotion either had ever felt. Lying there in the alley amidst a pile of junk was Mario, but.he wasn't moving.  
  
"Yo, bro, are you seeing what I think I'm seeing?" One asked.  
  
"I.I think so. He ain't moving." The other replied. "Do you know what this means?"  
  
"We killed Mario! We, the Hammer Brothers, actually took out the all- powerful Mario. We are gonna be rich bro, just wait till Bowser hears about this. He'll probably give us double or even triple just for being so damn good!" The elated brothers gathered up a few of their hammers and headed quickly for Bowser's Keep. This was just too good to be true, they had to tell Bowser the good news as soon as possible.  
  
To be continued.  
  
Have the Hammer Brothers really killed the greatest hero Mushroom Kingdom has ever known? How will Bowser feel about this revelation? And what will happen to all the good people of the land that depend on Mario to protect them? You're just going to have to wait and see in the next chapter of Price of Life. 


End file.
